Parish of Llandudno North Wales, Rector's letter

August 2010

Within a few days of writing this letter I hope to be at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk. Pilgrimage to Walsingham has been part of my life for over twenty years. My first trip to ‘England’s Nazareth’ (as it is often called) was in my teenage years when I went on a trip from my home parish in north London. But I didn’t start going there regularly until in the 1980’s, the Walsingham group in my then parish in Warrington asked me to lead their pilgrimage – I was thrown in at the deep end indeed but have been going back almost every year since!

The ‘North Wales’ pilgrimage, in which I shall be taking part this year, has grown from a small group from Holyhead and now includes folk from a number of parishes throughout the diocese, with about eight diocesan clergy (including our Archdeacon). Each year we join a number of other pilgrimage groups at the Anglican Shrine for a several days of worship, prayer and fun together.

Walsingham has been a place of pilgrimage since medieval times. The legend is that not long before the Norman conquest Mary, the Mother of Jesus appeared in a vision to the Lady Richeldis, an inhabitant of the manor of Walsingham and asked her to build a replica of the holy house in Nazareth in which Our Lord lived with Mary and Joseph. Whatever the truth of this story, Walsingham soon grew into one of the major pilgrim centres in Britain. The shrine was destroyed at the reformation but pilgrimage to Walsingham was revived for Anglicans in the early twentieth century and has flourished ever since. The present shrine church was built in the 1920’s and over the years the buildings and facilities of the shrine have been gradually improved.

A typical pilgrimage includes sharing with other pilgrimage groups in a pilgrimage Eucharist, a healing liturgy which includes ‘sprinkling’ at the holy well, a candlelit procession and a time of contemplation in the sacramental presence of the Lord. There are also devotions such as ‘Stations of the Cross’ and ‘intercessions in the Holy House’ which we do just with our own pilgrimage group. There is also lots of time for walks in the beautiful countryside, visits to ‘hostelries’ of various descriptions and much else.

The life of the Shrine is centred on the ‘holy house’ a replica of the prereformation one – in which the image of Our Lady of Walsingham is placed. Of course Mary figures very much in the devotional life of this place – but her role is always to point away from herself to the person of her divine Son.

The real heart of the spirituality of Walsingham is in the mystery of the Incarnation of Our Lord, in which Mary of course had a vital role. The Holy House centres on the life of the incarnate Jesus as he grew ‘in wisdom and stature’ (as St. Luke tells us) with Mary and Joseph – the Holy family. Pilgrims come to meet the incarnate Lord in the company of his mother.

Over the years countless thousands of people have found renewal in their spiritual lives through pilgrimage to Walsingham. Without a doubt it is one of those so called ‘thin places’ where the life of heaven feels very close. Perhaps next year you might try it for yourself!

Why do I write about Walsingham and my visit there? Partly to encourage you to be a pilgrim in the future but also as an introduction to an important feast day this month. On Sunday 15th we will celebrate the feast of Mary the Mother of the Lord. On that day we will honour her as the one chosen to be the ‘God–bearer’, the one who brought the Son of God into our world and offered him our humanity. She carried the incarnate Lord in her womb, gave birth to him, nurtured him and stood by him when he hung on the cross.

Perhaps even more importantly we honour her because of her obedience to the message of the angel – ‘let it be done to me according to your will’ – she is the pattern of all Christian discipleship. But when we honour her it is her Son and Lord that we truly honour. Like us Mary is human, a creature of God, dependent on his grace and love as are we. But how wonderful to worship Him in the company of such a wonderful and loving companion.

Fr John

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